Buckle



L. H. E'RB April 23, 1935;

BUCKLE Filed March-25, 1933 Inventor;

j wa Patented Apr. 23, 1935 Products Company, of Delaware Ghicago, llll., a corporation Application March 25, 1933, Serial No. 662,703

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a buckle and has special reference to a one-piece buckle formed of wire for use in the supporting of garments, and the like.

More particularly, this invention relates to a buckle having a portion adapted to be engaged by a button and having another portion adapted to be adjustably connected to a strap or the like, the buckle being formed of a single continuous wire so constructed that the strap or the like will act to prevent accidental disengagement of the button from the portion of the buckle with which the button is engaged. Further, the arrangement of the strap engaging portion is preferably such as to effect a transverse distortion of the strap against the direction of pull when the buckle is in use to prevent slippage of the strap relatively to the buckle.

The primary use to which the device of the above invention is adapted is in connection with overalls, the shoulder straps being detachably connected to the front bib thereby. Applicant contemplates, the provision of a buckle of the above type wherein an efiicient and practical article may be produced at a minimum cost. The construction of the buckle contemplates the formation of the intermediate portion of a single continuous wire into the outer frame of the buckle and the end portions of the wire into crossbars connected to one side of the outer frame to define transverse slots for receiving a strap or the like.

One transversely extending side of the frame is provided with a loop preferably opening into one of said transverse slots to be engaged by a button and, the adjacent cross-bar is provided preferably with offset portions for engaging the line of fold of a strap threaded through the transverse openings to substantially close said loop and to effect a distortion of the strap against the direction of pull when the buckle is in use to prevent relative slippage therebetween.

One of the objects of this inventionis to provide a buckle of the character noted above which is simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and efficient in operation.

Another object of this invention is'to provide a buckle of the type above pointed out which may be formed of a single length of wire.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter be more particularly pointed out and for a more complete understanding of the characteristic features of this invention, reference may now be had to the following description when taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which latter:

Figure l is a face view of a buckle constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a strap threaded on the buckle in full lines and a button in dotted lines in the loop portion of the buckle;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view taken on the line -i--3 of Fig. 2, showing a fragmentary portion of a bib with attached button in full lines;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the position of the strap as the button shown in dotted lines is passed out of engagement with the loop portion; and

Fig. 5 is a central vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4, the bib and button portions being shown in full lines.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the buckle is shown as comprising a frame designated generally by the reference character II]. The frame is preferably substantially rectangular in shape and comprises a single continuous wire,

the portion intermediate the ends of which comprise the outer frame of the buckle and the end portions of which comprise cross-bars intersecting the frame member and dividing the same into transverse slots.

The buckle may be conveniently formed on the usual wire forming machines of standard make, commonly termed multiple slide, or, in the present instance, fourslide machines. These machines bend the wire in the various directions consecutively and continuously. As shown in the drawing, an intermediate portion of the wire forms a side i l of the frame and one end portion thereof is bent substantially at right angles thereto to form an upper side l2 the continuation of this side being bent back in an opposite direction and at a spaced distance therefrom to form an intermediate bar it. The other end of the wire extending from the side ii is bent at right angles thereto to form a lower side it having a looped central portion 55, the extreme end thereof being bent back in the opposite direction to form a second intermediate bar it. The extreme outer ends of the intermediate bars l3 and l 5 are preferably fixedly attached to the side frame it as by means of welding, soldering, or clamping the ends thereabout as at H.

The intermediate bars is and it are spaced from the upper and lower sides of the frame members l2 and M, respectively, and are likewise spaced relatively to each other, thus forming an upper, a lower, and an intermediate slot numbered 22, 23 and 2 3, respectively, for receiving the strap as it is threaded in the manner hereinafter described.

The cross-bar or intermediate bar it positioned adjacent the side it of the buckle frame, is provided with a pair of spaced offset portions l3 and i9 which latter form a depressed portion therebetween, the latter being opposite the opening into the loop l5. Thus, the lower slot between the lower frame portion Hi and the intermediate bar I5 is relatively wide opposite the opening into the loop and, as will hereinafter be more particularly pointed out, when associated with the strap will act to prevent accidental disengagement of the button from the loop.

A strap is shown as being threadedly engaged with the buckle in the following manner:

The strap passes downwardly to the rear of the upper side of the frame 52 and then forwardly through the slot 22 over the bars l3 and i8 and rearwardly through the transverse slot 24. The

strap is then passed upwardly and forwardly through the transverse slot 23 and then rearwardly and upwardly through the transverse slot the free end 25 of the strap being disposed in the rear of the body portion of the strap and thus behind the buckle.

It will be noted that when the strap is thus threadedly' engaged with the buckle the line of fold 26 of the strap is positioned adjacent the opening into the loop 25 and thus substantially closes this opening since the head of the button is substantially greater than the diameter of the loop. It will be noted further that the offset portions 68 and i9 engage the strap at the line of fold thereof so that a relative pull between'the strap and buckle is exerted on the strap and buckle at the points of engagement of the offset portions of the bar It with the strap. This arrangement of the strap relatively to the buckle effects a transverse distortion of the strap against the direction of pull when the buckle is in use so as to prevent slippage of the strap relatively to the buckle. A garment 21 as for example, an overall bib, has fixed thereto a shank 28 of a button 29, the latter being adapted to be engaged with the loop N5 of the buckle by positioning the shank 28 of the button in the opening in the loop l5. 7

' In use a strap will be threadedly engaged with the buckle in the manner previously described and the button will be engaged with the loop I5. As long as there is a relative pull between the strap and button, the button will remain in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, or, in other words, in the lower end of the opening into the loop l5. If however, this relative pull should be relieved and the button should slip upwardly in the loop, it will be noted by reference to Fig. 3 that it' can not become disengaged from the buckle owing to the strap extending across the raised offset portions I8 and I 9 which latter substantially close the opening into he loop. Thus the button may not become accidentally disengaged from the button loop 15.

When, however, it is desired to disengage the button from the loop, the button may be tilted as shown more particularly in Figs. 4 and 5 to engage the edge thereof with the adjacent folded portion of the strap forcing such folded portion into the recess 2% between the offst portions 18 and I9, thus allowing the passage of the button through the slot by reason of the resiliency of the material of the strap to a disengaged position. I It is thus to be noted that the line of fold of the strap being positioned as it is adjacent the outlet opening of the button-receiving loop constitutes a means for yieldably maintaining the button in engagement with the loop and it becomes necessary to displace the adjacent folded portion of the strap to effect disengagement of the button from the loop with the result that the folded portion of the strap constitutes in effect a resilient or compressible cushion for maintaining the button in engaged position. The bar I6 having the recessed portion 23 therein conforms substantially to the curvature of the edge of the button adapted to be engaged in the buckle loop and as the folded portion of the strap is forced into the recessed portion, there is sufficient clearance to permit the passage of the button rearwardly through the slot 24 and thus to disengaged position. Further, the offset portions engaging the line of fold of the strap prevent the side edge of the strap from slipping inwardly toward the center of the bar 56 to hold the strap under tension between the offset portions of the bar.

As a result of the'present invention, a buckle may be provided which is simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and emcient in operation. The simplicity of the construction can not be challenged since it comprises-but a single piece of wire simply formed. Unquestionablyit can be very inexpensively manufactured because of very simple forming operations which may be made on the usual multiple of four-slide machines of standard construction today with minor adjustments. The method of manufacture contemplates merely the bending of the wire in several directions, the ends of the wire being preferably fixedly attached to one side of the frame, The buckle is very'efficient in operation since the button associated with-the bib of the overall is held against displacement merely by the resilient cushioning means formed by the strap threaded in a particular manner over the offset portions as recited above. The strap is held securely against slippage by reason of the same blunt offset portions tending to effect a distortion of the strap laterally when the buckle is under tension in use.

While but a single embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it is tobe understood that various modifications thereof may be apparent to those skilled in the art without depart ng from the spirit and scope of this invention and, therefore, the same is only to be limited by the scope of the prior art and the appended claim.

I claim:

A buckle ofthe character described for association with a flexible strap comprising a single continuous wire formed to define a substantially rectangular frame having upper, lower and side bars, and intermediate bars extending between said upper and lower bars for providing upper, lower and intermediate slots for receiving a strap threaded therethrough, said lower bar having an outwardly extending loop opening into said lower slot for retaining a button, said opening being substantially the same size as the loop, and the lower of said intermediate bars being disposed adjacent said loop and having spaced offset portions extending in the direction of said lower slot for engagement with the strap, said strap normally extending in a substantially straight line around said lower intermediate bar in a normal condition to substantially close said loop to prevent accidental displacement of said button therefrom unless manually forced and being transversely distorted against the direction of pull when tension is applied to said strap.

LOUIS H. ERB. 

